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Before being a digital nomad was cool I went full nomad. I remember being in a hostel in Thailand and just throwing away everything I had brought, going down to the basics. Ended up with a similar setup.

The thing is, after years of doing it, learning new languages, making friends all over, and then leaving knowing you might not see them again for ever or for long stints, you start to feel the yearning to be able to connect with people on a deeper level.

Now I have an apartment and basically only travel for weddings, I still go super light. But there is a joy in having variety in clothing or sneakers to wear. Friends who you've had multiple conversations with over the year's, even family who comes to visit you.

I'm happy I rid myself of it all, but I'm also happy that now my apartment has the basics, and maybe a bit more. And I'm fine with it. Life doesn't have to be binary, you can mix and match and end up happy either way.

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I was a nomad for about a year. Towards the end I was tired of the constant leaving.

I asked for advice from an NGO who moves countries often. She said what happens is the NGO members become part of the extended connection, which helps with that situation.

Even when I was a nomad, I wouldn't have been without a suitcase. My big hobby then was dancing - mostly salsa and tango - and I needed several changes of clothes and dance shoes. And, umm, not all black clothes.

To make it worse, indoor smoking was legal, so I would come home with stinky clothes that I wouldn't want to wear again until washing.

I also did some upper undergrad/grad level visiting teaching, and would stay at a staff members home, or in one case the home of the parents of one of the grad students. I brought a dozen or so greeting-style cards with nice pictures of the city I used to live in, so I could leave them as a thank you, with an image of what for them would be an exotic place.

I went backpacking last year for only a little over a month. Absolute pain in my chest when someone who I'd gotten to known over the past few days said it was their last day lol.

The wisdom here is in realizing it's not about choosing one lifestyle forever, it's about adapting as your values shift. Love the balance you've found

Yup, we all go through difference phases of life.

We have a nice airbed (oxymoron?) in our apartment that gets used maybe 3-4 times a year. It takes up more space than the author's backpack, but it's also great whenever a friend or family member would like to visit on short notice (along with a set of sheets, towels, collection of hotel toothbrushes...).

>The thing is, after years of doing it, learning new languages, making friends all over, and then leaving knowing you might not see them again for ever or for long stints, you start to feel the yearning to be able to connect with people on a deeper level.

A rolling stone gathers no moss, as they say.

"If you're everywhere, you're nowhere."

I think this is key. I travel nearly zero these days due to a long list of reasons, but the mental exercise of thinking about whether I could travel with my stuff helps me be more conscious about accumulating things that I don’t really need.

I was a nomad for almost a decade! Can confirm all of this.

I am trying to build a normal life in one place for the foreseeable future, with a place full of stuff again. :)